Furniture glide



Ap 7, 1953 R. E. DoLAN FURNITURE GLID Filed April 28, 195o Patented Apr.7, 1953 UNITE-D Sy TATES ICE .FURNITURE GEIDE Richard E. polari,Sudbury, Application April 28, 1950,. Serialv No.. 315"8.81"5

(Cl. 16a-42') 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to an improved furniture glide for' use withfurniture of the type having supporting legs formed of vmetal tubing.

It is now the custom to enclose the lower ends of such furniture legswith protective casings, commonly referred to as furniture glides,utilizing materials such as metal, rubber, plastic, and othersubstances. None of these .materialsvhas been found to' be entirelysatisfactory. Thus the metal type of glide, usually made of steel. tendsto lose its nickel' vor chrome finish by cra-cking or chipping away,which allows objectionable rusting action to occur. Also, metal glidesare not as easily secured to -furniture legs of the metal tubi-ng type,since if the glides are constructed of a diameter which permits readyinstallation over bottoms of furniture legs, these glides rather easilyfall off, and during' shipping operations especially become lost.Expensive replacement*l is then necessary. To remedy these faults aneffort has been made to employ flexible or plastic materials. Suchmaterials, however, are found to be lacking in durability. Particularlythe boti tom edges of tubular type furniturelegs wllloften, after ashort time, cut through the plastic glide and the latter member mustthen be thrown away.

It is an object of the present invention to deal with the problemsindicated and `to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient form o'ffurniture :leg glide which is highly resistant vto wear and which may besolidly secured in place so as to resist dis-v placement throughout theperiod of life of the article of furniture. It is valso an objectief theinvention to provide a glide which is not subject to rusting, or otherdeteriorating effects, such as are indicated above. Still another objectis to provide means for achieving a desirable cushioning action as wellas absorbing noise where a silent type of glide is desired.

These and other objects and novel features will be more fully understoodand appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentof the invention selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of thefurniture glide of the invention installed on a furniture leg;

Fig. 2 is another view in elevation and partial cross-section furtherillustrating the glide construction shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another view in elevation and partial cross-section,indicating a modification of the invention;

2 elements of the invention separated from one another; and' Fig. '5 -is`a cross-sectional view taken on the line E-S of Fig. l.

The inventionis in part 'base-d lupon a recognition nof the fact that-soi'ne forms of synthetic plastic materials `when constructed in theshape of tubular 'member of a Adiameter substantially the same as, orslightly larger than, the diameter of a 'furniture leg of 'the tubulartype', will very tenaclously cling thereto and `will resist slipping onwhen subjected `to forcek ordinarily encountered 'in theV working vvlife`o the 'article of furniture.

-I'have discovered thatthis ability of some types of plastic lmaterialsto resist slipping off may be liii-ade use of tornare desirably secure ametal type of glide casi-ng in suitable operating relationship to ametal furniture leg of the tubular type. By utilizing the holding forceresulting from enf gagement of the plastic body with the furniture legand 'by further provid-ing for solidly securing the plastic member tothefxnetal glide casing, I am enabled to furnish 'a `very desirablecomposite glide structure which overcomes man-y of the diflicultiesheretofore encountered.

Thus, in Figs. 1, :2 and-'5 of the drawings, nu-

meral l0 denotes a 'tubular/sleeve or liner which `is preferably formedof `Iavplastic material such as polyethylene, 'for example.'"This-'tubular member l0 isvfformed with 'a lclii'i'meter correspondingto, or vslightly larger than, 'the outer diameter of la lfurillture legl! of the tubular type. The liner i0 lis `forced on over the tubular legl2 into a po sltlcn :suon as thatsuggested in Fig. 2, for example, withthe lower edges of the liner being located substantially fiushwith thebottom edges of the tubular member I2.

As will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 2, the member l0 is securedaround the inner peripheral surface of an external slide casing or glideI4, the bottom of which is arranged in abutting relation to the bottomedges of the tubular member I2. It will thus be seen that the liner l0constitutes a holding vmeans for maintaining the slide casing Il in arelatively fixed position around the lower end ofthe leg l2, and byreason of the relatively strong holding force of the plastic materialcomposing the liner, the vunit will resist separation under all ordinaryconditions of usage.

In order to properly secure the liner to the slide casing I4, there isfurther provided a rib or beading I6 extending around the lower outerperiph- Fig. 4 is an assembly view showing the Vglide 55 eral edge oithe liner I0, as suggested in Figs. 2

and 4. Against this beading or rib is engaged the uppermost edge I8 ofthe slide casing I4, which edge is preferably turned or clinched overthe beading so that a positive locking effect is achieved. The casingmember I4, for the purpose of facilitating forming or drawing its edgeI8 over the bead I6, may be formed of a metal such as aluminum, brass,stainless steel, and the like, which metals are highly durable and whichare substantially resistant to attack by rusting.V

It will beapparent that the slide casing I 4 provides a metal armordirectly in contact with the bottom edges of the tubular member I2 andthus furnishes a relatively durable metal body portion at points ofgreatest wear, and especially between the bottom edges of the furnitureleg and surface on which it may be supported. It will also be apparentthat the plastic, by reason of its holding properties with respect tothe metal tubing of the leg I2, combines with the casing to provide astrong coupling, thus eliminating any likelihood of the glide beingdropped olf or lost, either in shipping operations or in actual usage.At the same time the locking effect derived from combining a lowerbeaded portion on this plastic liner with a wiped or drawn metal edge,completes the combination to ensure permanent attachment of the casingto the plastic body.

It is also pointed out that the plastic liner, presenting as it does anextended neck portion rising upwardly above the clinched or curled edgeof the casing, offers an excellent opportunity for introducing desirablecolor effects of a novel character, enhancing the appearance of theglide. In Fig. 4 there has been illustrated the liner and casing inseparated relation, with the casing being shown with its upper edge inan unformed cylindrical shape preparatory to being passed over theplastic insert and drawn or spun into a clinched position.

There also may be introduced into the glide construction shown in Figs.1 and 2, a means for providing for what is sometimes referred to in thetrade as a silent glide. In this silent glide form of the invention,illustrated in Fig. 3, the external metal casing I4 is separated fromthe bottom edges of the tubular member I2 by a cushioning member 20comprising, preferably, a disk of rubber, or similar resilientsubstance, The outer peripheral edges of thev rubber disk 20 may extendbeyond the bottom edge of the tubular member I2 to lie against thebottom section of the beading IB on the liner I 0 and thus extend thecushion area. It is found that 4 this combination of elements tends toreduce transmission of sound and shock from the casing to the tubularleg, with the result that an article of furniture so equipped may slideacross a supporting surface with very little noise ensuing.

It will be evident that I have provided a novel and eiicient furnitureglide which can be made into a highly attractive unit and which may becheaply constructed and assembledto compete with other types of glides.The diiiiculty of breaking or cutting through, common with plasticmaterials, is eliminated, and yet the desired holding effect of theplastic is retained, with all likelihood of separation of the glide fromthe furniture leg being substantially eliminated. A much ,longer lifeglide is achieved; rusting is avoided; and various color eifects may bedeveloped.

While I have herein shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, itshould be understood that I Wish to cover all forms and modifications ofthe invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

A furniture glide for use with the bottom end of a leg of that typehaving an open tubular lower extremity, said glide comprising a tubularsleeve of relatively hard plastic material having substantially uniforminner diameter throughout its length for frictionally engaging thebottom end of said leg, the bottom end of the plastic sleeve having 4itsmarginal edge thickened, and a casing including a ilat bottom portionextending the full width of said leg for directly receiving upon itsinner `face the bottom portion of said leg for supporting the latter,the marginal portion of the casing being bent upwardly and inwardly forsnugly embracing the enlarged thickened edge portion of the sleeve tocompletely contain the same to prevent expansion and rupture when theparts are positioned on the end of said leg.

RICHARD E. DOLAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

Singer Apr. 4, 1950

